Cleaning implement comprising melamine foam

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cleaning implement ( 1 ) suitable for hard surface cleaning comprising heat-compressed melamine foam, wherein the heat-compressed melamine foam has been heat-compressed at about 250° C. to about 300° C., for about 1 minute to below about 3 minutes.

1 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) suitable for hard surface cleaning comprising heat-compressed melamine foam, wherein said heat-compressed melamine foam has been heat-compressed at about 250° C. to about 300° C., for about 1 minute to below about 3 minutes.  
   
   
       2 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein said melamine foam has been heat-compressed at about 260° C. to about 290° C.  
   
   
       3 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein said melamine foam has been heat-compressed at about 265° C. to about 280° C.  
   
   
       4 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein said melamine foam has been heat-compressed at about 270° C. to about 275° C.  
   
   
       5 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein said melamine foam has been heat-compressed for about 1.5 minutes to about 2.5 minutes.  
   
   
       6 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein said melamine foam has been heat-compressed for about 2 minutes to about 2.5 minutes.  
   
   
       7 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein the melamine foam has been heat-compressed to a thickness of about 5:1 to about 1.2:1.  
   
   
       8 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) suitable for hard surface cleaning comprising heat-compressed melamine foam, wherein said heat-compressed melamine foam has been heat-compressed at about 250° C. to about 300° C., for about 1 minute to below about 3 minutes, and to a thickness of about 3:1 to about 1.5:1.  
   
   
       9 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein said melamine foam has been compressed and heated simultaneously.  
   
   
       10 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein said melamine foam has been pre-heated before being heat-compressed.  
   
   
       11 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 9 , wherein said heating has been operated by using forced hot air convection, water-steam circulation, heating plates, infrared radiation, high frequency radiation, microwave radiation, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       12 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , which is further provided with an irregular portion in at least part of the surface thereof.  
   
   
       13 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , having a volume of from about 1 cm 3  to about 10.000 cm 3 .  
   
   
       14 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein said melamine foam has a thickness after said heat-compression of at least about 1 mm.  
   
   
       15 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein said heat-compressed melamine foam is laminated with a second layer selected from the group of polyurethane foams, polypropylene foams, polyethylene foams, cellulose foam sponges, naturally occurring sponges, open-cell polyester foams, cross-lined polyethylene foams, nonwoven web made from natural or polymeric fibers, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       16 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) suitable for hard surface cleaning comprising heat-compressed melamine foam, wherein said heat-compressed melamine foam has been heat-compressed at about 250° C. to about 300° C., for about 1 minute to below about 3 minutes, and wherein said heat-compressed melamine foam is laminated with a second layer selected from the group of polyurethane foams, polypropylene foams, polyethylene foams, cellulose foam sponges, naturally occurring sponges, open-cell polyester foams, cross-lined polyethylene foams, nonwoven web made from natural or polymeric fibers, and combinations thereof.  
   
   
       17 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 15 , wherein said second layer has a water-absorbency of at least about 0.05 g, preferably at least about 0.10 g, more preferably at least about 0.20 g, even more preferably at least about 0.30 g, most preferably at least about 0.35 g of water per cm 3  of said second layer.  
   
   
       18 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein said heat-compressed melamine foam is a heat-compressed melamine-formaldehyde resin foam.  
   
   
       19 . A cleaning implement ( 1 ) according to  claim 15 , wherein said second layer is a hydrophilic ester polyurethane foam.